A Peace of Mind.

Silence is golden, but my eyes still see. Silence is golden, golden, but my eyes still see.

Originally co-written by Bob Gaudio (of the American rock band, The Four Seasons) and Bob Crewe, the song was later covered by English band The Tremeloes in 1967 and Swedish singer Jim Jidhed in 1989. The high-pitched voice of Frankie Valli also had a part to play in the song. (Source: Wikipedia).

Well, as it turns out, we have a bad habit of taking things for granted, and one of the most precious things in life is silence. Pure and precious peace and quiet. We are subjected to noise and other audio disturbances on a daily basis. Drivers honking impatiently at each other, construction workers tearing down buildings, sirens blaring out across the highway, or worse, your own mother and your mother-in-law nagging you for not helping your wife out at home! If your boss enjoys micro-managing you, then your ears are also in urgent need of a much-welcomed break.

But when we are finally home after a long and productive day, instead of unwinding with a little background music or none at all, doing yoga and listening to your own heartbeat, we decide to crank up the volumes of our home stereo system and blast what’s left of our eardrums into oblivion. What happened to soaking in the silence? What happened to enjoying the peace and quiet of our surrounding? What happened to sitting there and meditating in solitude?

Today, I learned a valuable lesson. Today, I realised that there are some things in life that cannot be fervently wished for. Today, I understood the meaning of silence, and appreciate the gift of requiescence (defined as a state of rest or repose; peace and quiet).

And you know why?

Because I am now sitting at my dining table, desperately trying to focus on churning out this post for you while the workmen are drilling and hammering away in my master bathroom, knocking out the old tiles before applying new ones. The decibels are deafening to my ears and it disturbs the peace of my mind. The noise is so consistent and constant that it’s driving me crazy, making my stomach rumble and the floors reverberate beneath my feet. It’s like an earthquake, only manmade. I wonder what it must be doing to my poor pet cat then. If I can’t stand the noise, it must be even more maddening for the cat!

“WHAT? What did you say? I can’t hear you!”

Silence is a proverbial saying, which is “often used in circumstances where it is thought that saying nothing is preferable to speaking.” (Source: The Phrase Finder)

Silence, oh how we have taken thee for granted. Never again! Oh, how I am going to enjoy tranquility and the joys of solitude once the workmen are done with Stage 1 of renovating the master bathroom!